“Let’s Go Crazy” is frenzy-inducing perfection

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week, with Let’s Be Cops coming to theaters, we’re picking our favorite songs with “let’s” in the title.

I’m not a massive Prince fan, or at least I haven’t devoted my life and time to really diving into his back catalogue, but I absolutely love—love, I say—“Let’s Go Crazy.” It’s the perfect party starter, the perfect song for getting ready in the morning, the perfect cut that’s not exactly “deep” but that isn’t necessarily “Purple Rain,” even though it’s off that record. “Let’s Go Crazy” is also a perfect dance track, one that, at 197 BPM, is hurriedly propulsive enough to support any kind of dorky dancing that I might want to pull out. (Lately, Prince has been playing a slower, funked-up version of the already pretty funky track, and while it’s not bad, necessarily, it’s also not the “Let’s Go Crazy” I love and want.) Perfectly placed in a set at a bar’s dance night, it will just about burn the place down as sweaty drunk people go absolutely fucking nuts over the Purple One’s coos and weird chatter about that “Electric word, life.” And while Prince is certainly not perfect, though he might think he is, “Let’s Go Crazy,” well, it’s as perfect as a song can be.